PRESIDENTIAL FEUDS, PART V
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- Mugwump53
- jerrib
- Mugwump53
- jerrib
- Mugwump53
- presladies
- Mugwump53
- LincolnFan
- bkuhn99
- Mugwump53
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» Mugwump53 - Re: Great men
In response to message posted by jerrib:Thanks, Jerri. This particular feud has always interested me. Both men were very underrated during their lifetime. I tend to agree with Truman that Ike should have defended Marshall. There was no way he would lose the election, and he might have had less trouble with that crowd of Republicans if he had stood up to them during the campaign when they needed him.
I always appreciate your dropping by and contributing your comments. Thanks.
-- posted by Mugwump53
» presladies - Harry and Ike
Dear John:You certainly are right that by Inauguration Day Harry and Ike had no love for each other. But I would like to add two thoughts.
One : the story of the divorce is one that is still questioned by many. Of course, no letter has ever been found--supposedly destroyed--. But there is a letter in Marshall's file from June 1945, in which Ike asked Marshall to allow Mamie to join him in Europe now that the European War was over. According to Stephen Ambrose's book Eisenhower, Marshall took the request to Truman who said 'no".
Marshall wrote back to Ike turning him down and Ike replied he understood, even apologizing for bothering him with the request....So at the same time, he supposedly wanted to divorce Mamie, he was asking for her to come to him. Harry Truman was a man of integrity so for him to lie does seem out of character--thus making it all the more a mystery.
Two: I think another source of animosity was the fact that Harry on several occasions encouraged Ike to run for office (according to the Secretary of the Army even asking Ike to run with him in 1948) but Ike always said he was not interested in politics. During those years no one was sure what "party" Ike belonged to...Then Ike turns around and runs for President in 1952 as a REPUBLICAN . I think that caused Harry to get angry on two levels 1) he felt it a personal affront 2) Harry was a DEMOCRAT through and through and he had to face the fact that the REPUBLICANS would take over the Presidency.
Bill Wills
Presidents and Their First Ladies, dramatically speaking
http://www.presladies.com
-- posted by presladies
» Mugwump53 - Re: Harry and Ike
In response to message posted by presladies:Dear Bill,
Since we will never know the exact timing of Ike's letter to Marshall (as it was apparently destroyed) it is entirely possible it was earlier and Ike's later letter requesting Mamie to come to England was after he got straightened out by Marshall. In fact, it might have been part of an effort to quell the rumors and help Ike's reputation. That may be why Marshall said no to his request. A possibility and a good mystery.
As for Harry trying to get Ike to run, I have heard a number of these stories ranging from Harry offering to step aside in Ike's favor to asking Ike to run with him, to a meeting in the White House in which Harry tried to dissuade Ike from getting involved in politics.
As both parties were trying hard to get Ike, I can't see Harry getting personally angry at Ike's choice. Harry always understood that politics was a game not to be taken personally. I agree, however, that Harry was an avid Democrat and hated the possibility (or probability) of Republicans taking the White House.
Thanks for sharing your unique viewpoint with us. I hope you join in often.
-- posted by Mugwump53
» LincolnFan - Re: Re: Harry and Ike
In response to message posted by Mugwump53:Thanks for such an interesting report. I think Truman started having suspicions about Ike during the GOP convention in 1948 when Eisenhower released what Truman called a "weasel worded" statement saying "at this time" he was not a candidate for president.
I did not realize Eisenhower shared a podium with Jenner. That's amazing, considering what Jenner said about George C. Marshall. (I think he called him a traitor, too.) I consider Marshall the greatest American of the 20th century. He always answered the call, particularly after his retirement from the Army: He went on to serve as Secys of State and Defense and Pres of the Red Cross. He never wrote his memoirs because he didn't want to profit off of his experience and didn'tidnt want to lie about the people he worked with. And most importantly, in 1944 he refused to campaign for the job of Supreme Allied Commander. Everyone knew it was Marshall's but couldnt make up his mind. (He told FDR that it was his decision and he was not about to sway him.) And Eisenhower could have stepped aside and told FDR to give it to Marshall. Ike remained silent. (FDR even told Ike about his dilemma, wanting to give Marshall the greatness he deserved because he said no one remembered who was chief of staff during the Civil War but everyone remembers Grant. Ike, of course, stayed quiet.) I heard one of Ike's lackeys say about the Wisconsin visit Ike took to stand on the same stage with McCarthy: "You dontdont go into Wisconsin and punch McCarthy in the nose" as the justification for taking out the laudatory graf about Marshall. Typical. I also didnt realize that Democrat leaders were going to use the Summersby letter against Ike. Again that owes to Truman and Marshall's integrity that they destroyed that letter.
-- posted by LincolnFan
» bkuhn99 - Harry and Ike
What a load of garbage. The article is so full of untruths that I simply do not have the time necessary to rubut all the allegations. Here is a try:1. The only letter ever found from Eisenhower to Marshall concerneMamieie Eisenhower moving to Europe to live witIkeke - hardly the situation he would have wanted with his "girlfriend" hanging around.
Trumanuman wanIke Ike to run as a Democrat and even offered him the job in 1948. WIke Ike refuTrumanuman was livid and reacted a child.
3. Most historians today totally disTruman'suman's account of anything in the book "Plain Speaking". That book is nothing but the ravings of a senile, old man.
I hope these facts can set the record straight as farTruman-Ikeuman-Ike relationship.
-- posted by bkuhn99
» Mugwump53 - Re: Harry and Ike
In response to Harry and Ike posted by bkuhn99:I am sorry you did not like the article.
You are correct about Truman offering to step aside in favor of Eisenhower in 1948. In a portion of Truman's diary discovered in the last year or two, it reveals in Truman's own writing that he did in fact offer the top spot to Ike and volunteered to run in the second place on the ticket.
-- posted by Mugwump53
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